Device for guiding a sail of a sailing boat

ABSTRACT

The guiding device of the invention introduces, close to the entrance of the groove in which the sail hoist rope is engaged, two guiding elements having on the side opposite the groove external guiding edges. In addition, the sail includes at least one protuberance situated at a distance from the hoist rope and is intended to take support and be guided by said external edges. The invention can be applied in particular to battened sails.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention concerns a device for guiding a sail of a sailing boat from the opening of the groove of a mast or part integral with the mast in which the bolt rope of the sail is engaged. It can also concern any spar including a groove for sending a battened sail.

[0003] It also concerns a sail specially designed so as to be able to be used in this guiding device.

[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0005] Generally speaking, it is known that in sailing boats whose spanker-boom is equipped with a sails reducer/winder, the mainsail is fixed to the mast by means of a bolt rope which slides into a groove of the mast, in fact into an interdependent part (for example articulated) extending fully along the mast.

[0006] During rigging manoeuvres to hoist a sail, it has been shown that the hoist rope is not firmly secured in the axis of the groove, thus provoking significant rubbing at the entrance of the groove likely to brake and wear or even jam the rope between the lips of the groove at the level of said opening.

[0007] So as to avoid this drawback, it has been firstly suggested to use a rope guide placed at the entrance of the groove so as to orientate the rope in the axis of the opening of the groove. However, this solution is unsatisfactory, especially for battened sails, because under the action of the wind, the sail inflates whereas the battens stop against the rope guide which provokes a premature wear of the sail and possibly its jamming, thus invariably rendering manoeuvering of the sail extremely awkward.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0008] So as to eliminate this drawback, the invention starts with the notion that the sail can be fitted with a second bolt rope or even bolt rope portions which, by cooperating with suitable guiding means, ensures the passage of the battens without causing blocking at the level of the rope guide whilst keeping the orientation of the hoist rope inside the axis of the opening of the groove.

[0009] Accordingly, the invention concerns a guiding device introducing two guiding elements situated close to the opening of the groove approximately on both sides of the latter, these two elements being separated from each other by a distance greater than the thickness of the sail so as to delimit a passage in the axis of said opening through which the sail is able to pass.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] According to the invention, this device is characterised in that the guiding elements have on the side opposite the groove external guiding edges, and in that said sail includes at least one protuberance situated at a distance from the hoist rope, also approximately equal to the distance separating said external edges and the entrance of the groove, so that this protuberance comes into support and is guided by said external edges, thus preventing the sail from being jammed between the guiding elements and unable to disturb passage of the rope into the groove.

[0011] Advantageously, said protuberance could consist of a second rope extending parallel to the hoist rope over its entire length.

[0012] However, in the case of batten sails, the sail could include at the right of each of the battens a protuberance or rope portion, bent inward or with the shape of a V with concavity orientated opposite the guiding roper. This solution has the advantage of limiting the thickness of the sail wound on the winder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] There now follows embodiments of the invention given by way of non-restrictive examples with reference to the accompanying drawings on which:

[0014]FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic cutaway views illustrating the principle of a main sail reducer/winder equipped with a guiding device according to the invention;

[0015]FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic horizontal cutaway view along AA′ of FIG. 1;

[0016]FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic horizontal cutaway view of a guiding device according to one variant of the invention;

[0017]FIG. 4 is a front view of a main sail with battens provided with V-shaped protuberances able to be used in the device shown on FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] In the example shown on FIGS. 1 and 2, the main sail reducer/winder 10 is mounted inside a boom 1 made up of a tubular element 13 closed at each of its extremities 4 and 5 and including a longitudinal slit 3 allowing the passage of the main sail 10. The tubular element 13 contains a winder tube 2 approximately coaxial to the tubular element 13 around which the main sail 10 is wound. The winder tube 2 is mounted rotating along its longitudinal axis and is integral with a coaxial drum 8 enabling it to be driven in rotation by means of a control rope 9.

[0019] To ensure that the hoist rope 12 of the main sail 10 is kept parallel to the mast 11 and that the main sail 10 can be wound without folds around the winder tube 2 despite the top position of the boom of the drum 8, the hoist rope 12 is threaded with the aid of the sail head 34 into the longitudinal groove 14 of a profiled element 15 which is fixed to the mast 11 by means of support parts 16 and 17. Thus, the profiled element 15 is kept at a distance from the mast 11 so that the hoist ripe portion 12 of the portion of the sail deployed is always plumb with the hoist rope portion 12 wound around the winder tube 2.

[0020] Advantageously, the profiled element 15 is joined to the support parts 16, 17 by means of linking parts 19, whilst being subjected to the movements of the boom 1 inside a plane perpendicular to the mast 11. In this way, the opening slit 20 of the groove 14 of the profiled element 15 still remains orientated along the longitudinal axis of the boom 1, irrespective of the angle formed between the boom 1 and the longitudinal axis of the boat. Thus, the friction forces being exerted between the groove 14 and the sail 10 are reduced when the latter is not exactly inside the axis of the slit 20 of the groove 14.

[0021] In this example, the main sail 10 is provided with a set of horizontal battens 21 regularly spaced from one another. In fact, the purpose of this solution is to stiffen the sail 10 and thus offer the possibility of using a sail 10 having a larger surface area.

[0022] In accordance with the invention, the main sail 10 includes a second continuous bolt rope 22 extending parallel to the hoist rope 12 at a predetermined distance from the latter.

[0023] This second bolt rope 22 is intended to cooperate with a guiding device 23 shown on FIG. 2 and is placed close to the entrance of the groove 14. This device includes two oblong guiding elements 24, 25 situated opposite the opening of the groove 14 approximately on both sides of the latter. The distance of these two elements 24 and 25 can be adjusted with respect to each other. They are spaced from each other by a distance slightly larger than the thickness of the sail 10 so as to delimit a passage through which the sail portion between the two bolt ropes 12 and 22 passes.

[0024] The two guiding elements 24 and 25 are borne by two respective cheeks 26, 27 secured to the profiled element 15. They can be fixed and have a suitable oblong shape so as to ensure guiding without damaging the second bolt rope 22. In a variant, these elements 24 and 25 could consist of rollers mounted rotating on the cheeks 26 and 27 around a common axis perpendicular to the plane of the sail 10 so as to guide the bolt rope 12 into the axis of the entrance of the groove 14.

[0025] The advantage of this solution consists in that it makes it possible to obtain firstly excellent guiding of the bolt rope without the ends of the battens 21 being able to disturb the passage of the bolt rope 12 in the opening of the groove 14, and secondly of the sail 10 in the gap of the guiding elements 24 and 25.

[0026] Of course, the invention is not merely limited to the embodiment previously described.

[0027] Thus, the groove 14 in which the bolt rope 12 slides could be directly embodied in the mast 11, as in the example shown on FIG. 3.

[0028] In this case, the two guiding elements 24 and 25 could be carried by two respective cheeks 28 and 29 secured to the mast 11 by rivets 30, 31.

[0029] Furthermore, instead of using a second bolt rope 22, it is possible to only use bolt rope segments 31 respectively situated to the right of the battens 21. The sail 10 then includes at least as many bolt rope segments or protuberances 31 as battens 21, said protuberances 22 being situated close to the ends of the battens 21.

[0030] These bolt rope segments 31 could be rectilinear. Nevertheless, they could advantageously have bent inwards shapes, such as V-shapes, with a concavity orientated opposite the first bolt rope 12 so as to constitute two successive guiding ramps 32, 33 which extend obliquely with respect to vertical (FIG. 4).

[0031] These ramps 32, 33 are intended to come into support on the guiding elements 24, 25 by moving the ends of the battens 11 away from the entrance of the groove 14.

[0032] As previously mentioned, this solution has the advantage of reducing excess thicknesses when the main sail 10 is wound around the winder tube 2. 

1. Device for guiding a sail of a sailing boat at the level of the opening of a groove of a mast or a part integral with a mast, in which a sail hoist rope is engaged, said device introducing two guiding elements situated close to said opening approximately on both sides of the latter, these two elements being spaced from each other by a distance slightly larger than the thickness of the sail so as to delimit a passage through which the sail is able to pass, whereinthe guiding elements and have on the side opposite the groove external guiding edges and said sail comprises at least one protuberance situated at a distance from the hoist rope approximately equal to the distance separating said external edges from the entrance of the groove so that this protuberance comes into support and is guided by said external edges, this ensuring that the sail cannot be jammed between the guiding elements and is unable to disturb the passage of the hoist rope in the groove.
 2. Device according to claim 1, wherein said sail is provided with battens.
 3. Device according to claim 1, wherein said protuberances are bent inward and have a concavity orientated opposite the hoist rope.
 4. Device according to claim 3, wherein the shape of the protuberances is a V-shaped.
 5. Device according to claim 2, wherein said sail comprises as many protuberances as the battens, said protuberances being situated close to the ends of the battens.
 6. Device according to claim 1, wherein said protuberances are line segments.
 7. Device according to claim 1, wherein said protuberances form a second continuous bolt rope extending parallel to the hoist rope over its entire length.
 8. Device according to claim 1, wherein said mast includes the groove delimited by the external guiding edges in which the hoist rope is engaged.
 9. Device according to claim 1, wherein said groove is comprised in a profiled element joined onto the mast.
 10. Device according to claim 1, wherein said guiding elements comprise two rollers rotating around a common axis perpendicular to the plane of the sail so as to guide the hoist rope inside the axis of the entrance of the groove.
 11. Device according to claim 9, whereinthe space between the two guiding elements is adjustable so as to be adapted to the thickness of the sail. 